The government of India clarified that it had no plans to forcibly take gold from religious or other institutions under its recently launched monetization scheme. It came up with the clarification in the wake of media reports to the contrary. “Some sections of the media have reported that Government will directly intervene to monetize the […]
India has a shortage of close 1.9 cr housing units in urban areas, but 1.1 cr houses in these areas are lying vacant as their owners do not live in them, nor do they rent it out, pointed out housing minister Venkaiah Naidu. The problem, he said, is being addressed in India’s new Draft National […]
Operations at Chennai airport have been suspended till 12 noon on Sunday, December 6, due to waterlogging caused by heavy rainfall. Jet Airways and Air India said they would offer alternatives to their passengers keeping the shut down in mind. Jet Airways said it has cancelled all its flights to and from Chennai until December […]
The Indian Cabinet has approved a proposal by Germany — one of the pioneers in developing solar power in the world — to provide concessional loans of around 1 bln euro to develop the renewable energy source in the country. India has an ambitious, almost impossible, target of achieving 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity […]
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, approved setting up of six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Jammu, Kerala and Karnataka. They will be initially established as societies and later converted to ‘full IITs’ by amending the IIT Act of 1961. At present, India has […]
Surrogate mothers in government of India service are not automatically eligible for maternity leave and leaves are granted on a “case to case” basis, according to a statement by the government. Leaves have been granted in a few cases “taking the totality of circumstances into mind,” the government added. Surrogate mothers refers to those women […]
Incidents of communal violence increased this year compared to 2014, according to numbers from the Home Ministry. Adjusted for population, Karnataka saw the highest level of such incidents, while Madhya Pradesh showed the highest growth over 2014. Total number of such incidents are on track for a 15-20% jump in 2015 compared to last year, […]
CEAT and Pirelli said that they had entered an exclusive partnership for distribution of Pirelli’s global range of motorcycle tyres in the Indian market. This sole partnership will leverage CEAT’s vast distribution and dealer network pan India, CEAT said. Pirelli is one of the world’s top tyre brands and is known as much for its […]
Air India has entered into an agreement with RITES or Rail India Technical and Economic Service to use the latter as a project consultant. “With the signing of the MoU the two companies will cooperate in their future projects, in areas of planning, design and construction management of aircraft maintenance hangars, Maintenance Repair and Overhaul […]
Honda Cars India Ltd, a unit of the Japanese auto giant, reported a decline in car sales for November as Mobilio sales fell by nearly 90%, bucking the trend of overall positive numbers from other players. Earlier in the day, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra reported strong year-on-year growth for sales in November. Honda […]
November is turning out to be a good month for automakers in India, with Mahindra & Mahindra, India’s biggest SUV maker, reporting a 21% jump after Maruti Suzuki said sales rose 9.7% in the month. M&M total auto sales stood at 41,590 units during November 2015 as against 34,292 units during November 2014, boosted by […]
The impact of climate change on India would be more drastic than on many countries, according to a new paper released today by IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Gandhinagar and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). The country would need over $1 trillion from now until 2030 to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate […]
In a novel gesture, NDTV, one of India’s biggest broadcasting firms, issued a detailed question-and-answer feature to counter what it called “media reports being circulated on various forums” about an alleged funding scam. The company has been asked by the government why a fine of Rs 2,030 cr ($300 mln) should not be imposed for […]
TV18, one of India’s leading television broadcast networks and CNN International, the number one international news brand today announced the extension of their collaboration on CNN IBN. This comes weeks after the two said they are letting their agreement lapse. “Both parties embark on this new chapter with a determination to refresh CNN IBN and […]
Maruti Suzuki reported a strong increase of 9.7% in total auto sales for November this year due to strong sales of its Dzire Tour model and compact cars. Total sales increased to 120,824, comprising 110,599 units in the domestic market and 10225 units in exports. Sales of compact cars — including Swift, Celerio, Baleno, Dzire […]
The central government is awaiting feedback from the Supreme Court before expanding digitization of court proceedings by introducing audio and video recordings of proceedings. The ministry of law and justice said that it has been getting suggestions that following the digitization of court documents, a move should be made to digitize and record entire proceedings. […]
Punjabi writers have returned the highest number of awards and honors under the ‘award wapsi’ protests against intolerance, numbers from the ministry of culture revealed. The second highest number of Sahitya Akademi (Literary Council) awards were returned by Hindi writers, with six of them choosing to show their protest this way. In all, a total […]
A week after announcing a similar facility for all models of Swift and Dzire, Maruti Suzuki said it will offer the option of airbags and anti-skid braking on all models of compact hatchback Celerio, including the base version. “By offering safety features like airbags for driver and co-driver, and Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) from the […]
Despite protests, the Delhi government has tabled Lokpal bill in the Assembly. Leaders of Swaraj Abhiyan, the hardline group that split from Aam Aadmi Party, including Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav were detained by the police after they marched to the Delhi Assembly against the ‘toothless’ Lokpal in Delhi. The bill is unlikely to be […]
SKS Microfinance Limited cut its lending rate by 1% to19.75% per year for all future disbursals. “With this, the Company becomes the first micro finance institution to charge a sub-20% interest rate on its core Income Generating Loans (IGL) which are unsecured micro loans. Interest rate of 19.75% is the lowest rate charged by any […]
